Not Another Weasley
by GraceFaithHopeLove
Summary: While Eleanor Weasley loves her family, she doesn't always enjoy the life that goes with being a Weasley. She tries not to be bitter, but it isn't easy being one of eight children. At times she feels lost in her family so she tries to mark her own path on this journey called life. OC pairing not determined yet.


It was just another normal summer day at the Burrow which lay on the outskirts of Ottery St Catchpole. Mum was busy with one of her knitting projects since she had finally finished up with the breakfast dishes. Dad was off working on some sort of official job for the Ministry of Magic, which was also where my brother Percy was at. Percy practically lived at the Ministry and if he wasn't there, he was locked away in his bedroom and almost never seen by his family. Mum often chalked it up to it being his first job and all the pressure he must be feeling. A load of bullocks if you ask me. Fred and George were in their room attempting to be quiet, but utterly failing with all the booms and pops. They were up to something or another. Ron was off somewhere moping at how poorly his Chudley Cannons had done this year and Ginny outside in the paddock secretly using Fred's broom. Although, it wasn't too much of a secret if I knew about it. By this point you're probably wondering who I am and from your calculations, you're assuming I'm one of the two Weasleys I've forgotten to mention. No, I'm not Bill who's off in Egypt nor am I Charlie in Romania. The name's Ellie, well my name is actually Eleanor, but no one really uses that name except for Mum who seems rather insistent upon it. I'm Ron's twin sister and seventh in the _long_ Weasley line. Well, I suppose eight wasn't so long. Being the older girl often worked in my favour. I didn't get as many hand-me-downs as Ron did because I was a girl and Ginny didn't have things so bad only having to get them handed down from me. Of course, we weren't exactly rich by any standards in the Wizarding world; but our family did have a strong bond of love for each other…well, besides Percy, but he's another story.

There was a loud bang from up above which caused me to look up. I knew where it came from: Fred and George's room, but I couldn't help but be curious what they were up to. Granted, I think we all were quite curious…well, except for Percy who was just annoyed. I don't mean to sound so cynical about my brother Percy. I love him, I do. It's just that it's rather difficult to love someone who is a pain in your…rear end. But family is family. Or at least that's what I was taught growing up. No matter where you go in life. No matter what you do. Your family will always be your family. With a sigh, I set down the letter that I had received from my friend Julie Parkes. She was one of my roommates in Gryffindor along with Hermione Granger, Pavarti Patil, and Lavender Brown. Of my four roommates I was probably closest with Julie and Hermione. Hermione and I shared a special sort of friendship after the sort of things we had been through. We always managed to get dragged into trouble with my brother Ron and Harry Potter.

First, there was an ordeal with the Philosopher's Stone first year. Toward the end of the year, the four of us managed to sneak past Fluffy, Hagrid's three-headed dog and down a trap door. After that we had to get past several obstacles including Devil's Snare and a life-size Wizard's Chess game. After that, Harry Potter was the one to go up against Voldemort down there. Of course, we weren't expecting Voldemort to be down there. We were expecting it to be Professor Snape. But boy were we off. It was Professor Quirrell with Voldemort on the back of his head. I liked to refer to him as Qurrelldemort, but it wasn't very often I got to speak of him. Voldemort was a very touchy subject in the Wizarding world. Probably because no one believed him to actually be alive…which he technically wasn't, not really. But he was around. He was somewhere out there, which wasn't the most comforting thing. That also wasn't the last we saw of Voldemort.

Second year, there was the situation in the Chamber of Secrets. Granted, second year wasn't exactly a cake walk what with people getting petrified right and left. Then my sister was being possessed by a sixteen year old Tom Riddle's diary. Remember when I said we weren't done with Voldemort? Well, Tom Marvolo Riddle is apparently some sort of anagram for I am Lord Voldemort. The only reason I know this is because I happened to get dragged into the Chamber of Secrets with Ginny. I had thought she was acting rather odd so I followed her down to the second floor bathroom. Then she did the curious thing of speaking in Parseltongue and then a tunnel opened up. I tried to pull her back but not knowing she was possessed, she pushed me down the tunnel before following me down. Thankfully, Harry Potter was there to save our necks and he managed to get rid of Lord Voldemort once again.

Third year we had a run-in with the Prisoner of Azkaban which was nothing directly Lord Voldemort related. It was just a big misunderstanding which involved a rat. A literal and figurative rat. Scabbers had betrayed the Potters all those years ago. I know that sounds insane. You're probably wondering who did your brother's rat betray a family when you were just a baby. Well, Scabbers turned out to be a man named Peter Pettigrew who had not only betrayed Lily and James Potter but then he framed it on Sirius Black who was incarcerated in Azkaban for twelve years. Of course, this story only lives on with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, and I. Peter Pettigrew escaped and Sirius Black is living on the run. Haven't heard from him since that night, but I'm sure he keeps in some contact with Harry what with him being his godson and all.

No, life certainly wasn't normal. It wasn't normal being a Weasley. It certainly wasn't normal being friends with Harry Potter. You'd think by now I'd have learned that there is no such thing as a normal year as far as my life was concerned; but I couldn't help but wish that for once I would have just a normal life. Sometimes, I wished that I wasn't a Weasley. Now I know I told you before how much I love my family and that family is family, plain and simple. But sometimes I couldn't help but wonder how much different my life would be if I wasn't a Weasley or if my family didn't have a bad name in the Wizarding world. By bad I don't mean evil…I just mean that we're not very well-respected. I know it shouldn't matter to me, but sometimes that git Draco Malfoy's words would get to me. Thankfully, I've watched my friends punch that prat several times in order to get some sweet justice.

"Eleanor, you have a visitor!" Mother called for me from downstairs.

For a moment I looked puzzled but then I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. My eyes widened when I remembered who I was supposed to have met nearly a half-an-hour ago and this person had the nerve to come to my house to get me. Of course, it wasn't really too out of the question for him to do that. I just didn't want Fred, George, or Ron finding out about this person because I knew that I would be teased mercilessly if they found out that I fancied him. I just hoped that Mum wasn't saying anything too embarrassing about me. She had a habit of embarrassing me, as did the rest of my family and to say that I was easily embarrassed would be an understatement.

"Eleanor!" Mum called again.

"Coming, Mum!" I answered back before I made a run for my door.

My Weasley ginger hair hung kept flying into my face as I bounded down the stairs. I hadn't yet brushed my long hair this morning because I had completely lost track of time. I skipped the final two steps before I ran across the living room and then kitchen. Mum's back was to me as she stood at the door. _Please don't say anything embarrassing_ was all that kept going through my head; but I was too late. Mum was already discussing that they knew I had magic in my blood when I was a baby because my nappie would always mysteriously go missing. I practically plowed into my mother with a flaming red face as my eyes looked up to Cedric Diggory who was trying to contain his laughter. Why did she have to be so embarrassing?

"I think I have it from here, Mum," I groaned.

I then quickly escaped out the door and grabbed hold of Cedric's arm. All right, so the embarrassment thing was a huge part of the reason that I tried my best to keep my friendship with Cedric a secret; but I also knew that Fred and George didn't like him especially after last year's Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Quidditch match. Cedric was the Seeker on that team and some Dementors went after Harry during the match. Needless to say that Cedric caught the Snitch but Fred and George refused to let go of what happened. I saw it for what it was. Besides, Cedric even asked for a rematch. He was a pretty decent boy not the mention that he was easy on the eyes. Of course, I wasn't sure whether or not Cedric liked me the way I had fancied him for almost a year now. But being his friend was enough for now, especially during the summer months when the only people I would see was my family.

"Your Mum's hilarious, _Eleanor_," Cedric said with a grin before I gently punched his arm.

"It's Ellie," I chuckled. "And if you ever tell anyone what she told you; I swear on Merlin's socks that you should watch your back."

"You're going to be a fourth year and you're tiny, hardly what I'd call dangerous, Ellie," Cedric laughed.

"Expect the unexpected, Cedric," I retorted which made him laugh. "Besides, I have at least three brothers who aren't very fond of you."

"Plus you have three more who I'm sure are just as overprotective. But as far as Fred, George, and the other one go: it wasn't my fault. You know that. I offered a rematch…" Cedric rambled.

"I'm only joking," I said shaking my head. "I'm too fond of you to offer you to the hounds."

I cringed at my words after they left my mouth. _I'm too fond of you_. Way to be subtle, Ellie. You might as well just tell him that you fancy him and then expect him to never want to be friends with you again. He didn't say anything. He just smiled his usual smile and looked straight ahead. Of course I would make things awkward. That was my specialty, making things awkward. My face began to flush again. I couldn't tell if it was because I was embarrassed again or if it was because it was rather warm outside. Thankfully, Cedric didn't bring anything up about what I had said. We stopped at a pond near the paddock where Ginny was practicing and removed our shoes and socks. It wasn't a special date to Madam Puddifoots, but wading in the water with Cedric was just fine with me. I rolled my jeans up to my knees before I stepped into the cool water.

Cedric started talking about the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. It was going to be Ireland against Bulgaria. Of course, it was rather crushing that the English National team wasn't going to be in the final match at least it was being played on English soil. Cedric's father had already gotten tickets for the match. While I didn't play Quidditch, I still enjoyed watching it and it was rather disappointing that I wouldn't be able to attend the match. First of all, the World Cup was only every four years and not to mention that I couldn't even recall the last time the match was so close to home. But I suppose that was part of being a Weasley, not being able to afford to do what you want. I knew that there was no purpose in being bitter, but sometimes it just wasn't fair.

I squealed when I felt the cool water splash against me. I looked to Cedric who was laughing a few feet away from me. If that's how he wanted to play, well I could play that game. I kicked water toward him which caused him to turn away, but the water was a direct hit. I laughed and taunted him and he wasn't going to have any of it. He then started splashing me even more so I returned the favour. We were both soaked when we called a finally called a truce. Still laughing, we managed our way out of the water and attempted to dry-off in the sun. It seemed like we were there no more than a few minutes when Ginny came running toward us. She was the one person I knew wouldn't be all uptight about Cedric partly because she already knew I fancied him, like I knew she fancied Harry.

"Ellie, Dad's called a family meeting. He has something he wants to tell us."

"Do you know what it is?"

"No idea, but you should be glad that it was me who came to get you. Mum almost sent Fred."

That would have been just wonderful, Fred running in on this. I was glad that it had been Ginny. Cedric and I said our goodbyes before I ran behind my sister back to the Burrow.


End file.
